Renegade Reality
by MsMonet
Summary: Dream a better dream, and sleep one even worse. Sometimes you might even wake up to reality. (Explorers of Insanity) (under revision)
1. Chapter One: Death at Sea

**A/N: So, if you're one of those select few that I messaged about this story's editing: I'm sorry it's been so long! I'm been bouncing between my three stories (this one, Fifths, and Tensei II, which is co-authored with a friend) and have only just felt the need to start this (again). For those who are not:**

 **Welcome to the first chapter of Renegade Reality! I have big plans for this, so buckle down, dearest of readers, for this is going to be an epic ride! Changes from the first version include: better characters and personalities! a re-vamp of Astrid herself (I had something planned for her, and decided to expand on that to actually** _ **include**_ **Astrid** **)! and (hopefully) this is written better. I hope. So enough of me! You want to read, so I'll let you read!**

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Falling. It always, _always_ started with falling. Maybe it was just a great place to start? An abrupt change—it was a great start for storytelling and entrancing the crowd. It grows suspense. It makes you wonder: _What could they be falling towards? What will happen?_ Falling was classic. So, in that way, it makes sense that Astrid's story started here.

It started with her falling. Down, down, down she went. Flailing and screaming, she sobbed as the winds tore at the gaping wound in her shoulder. Then, the falling slammed to stillness—a bone-shattering abruptness that stole the beat from her heart. She sunk. Nothing more than a corpse, life tried to flee through the bubbles of her remaining breath.

However, something must have stirred; _something_ pulled her soul back. An ancient force changed her. Bones grated one another as they shifted and shrunk; previously black hair was swept away with the currents as red replaced it; a fire of blue flame turning in her gut. No longer was she a corpse, but something altogether different.

Finally, eyes—so unlike those of this time—opened with not a shred of any previous memory. That is to say, all except for a single, gut-deep knowing.

 _Astrid._

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Consciousness bled into two oddly colored eyes. They blinked, lazily, and slowly came to focus on a face hovering inches from them. She did not flinch, she was too tired. The face pulled back, grinning and babbling about one thing or other, unheard. She blinked again, slightly faster then the last, and ears twitched from their flopped resting. They swiveled back and forth, the first sound in what seemed to be eons filtering through the den of silence. It… was unfamiliar to her. A crashing, and if she was stupid enough, she'd have thought that the whooshing crash was what she imagined 'waves' to sound like. Her head turned, eyes widening. _Waves_. Honest to goodness—moving— _waves_. The vulpine yet unnamed stood. Delicate paws carried her forward to the edge of the surf—the pointed things sliding effortlessly into the milky sands—until water lapped around all four paws. Words finally, slipped passed numbed lips.

"…Where am I?"

Her words were barely a whisper above the soothing crashes, and yet, somehow, the blue amphibian heard.

"Huh? Oh, you're on Tidepool Beach." This time, she did start, whirling around faster than a blink and finally registering the other's presence.

Before her stood a mudkip of a relatively young age (twelve, if she had to guess) with a dark blue sash around its (his?) neck.

Her eyes narrowed. "Who are you?" The growl held the whispered quality of a dry throat. She fought down a cough.

"I… just told you, actually," they stated with a confused glint in their dark eyes and tilt of their aquatic head.

It was her turn to be confused. Had they really been talking? "I heard nothing," she said, eyes pinching with confusion, but otherwise did not relax her stance.

"Oh, well, my name is Matt." The mudkip—Matt—sat back before he continued with the question: "What's your name?"

She gave him an once-over, searched his eyes for deception, and saw nothing but innocence. Relaxing somewhat (at the last second, she realized she was ankle-deep in water, else she would have sat), she turned over his question in her head. A name? A whisper pulled free from void— _Sage_ —but no. Not _a_ name, _her_ name. This came easily. "Astrid."

"Astrid, huh?" Matt grinned. "Nice to meet you! Um, since you didn't hear my earlier, why were you passed out on the beach?"

 _Passed out on the…_ Frowning, she shook her head. "I… can not say."

"You mean you don't remember?" He frowned too, thinking. A light went off in his eye, and he asked: "What… _do_ you remember."

Memory. Astrid searched and searched—scouring her mind for an answer—any answer!—and only found the void left behind. She shook her head again, too shocked to speak.

"Nothing? Not even where you're from?"

She could only manage a, "No."

"Oh."

A dinning a silence almost to thick to break, if only one were brave enough to break it. Neither did. The only sounds came from the tumbling crash of the surf and the breath of one another. Eventually, Astrid sighed and moved from the salt-filled water of the sea, turned her back to the other to walk the path she had spotted earlier. Matt turned with her, slightly shocked.

"Wh-where are you going?" he asked, shocked into jogging beside the red vulpine.

She only looked back once, the blue in her lame eye growing stronger. "Did you expect me to remain there until one of us talked? No, it was obvious that neither of us would."

"B-but do you have anyplace _to_ go? Do you even know where you're going?" Only one word could answer that. Astrid stopped, the word ringing around her head.

 _No._

Sighing, she turned back to Matt, saying: "Are you offering? Do you even live somewhere big enough to house a human?"

The confusion that laced his eyes made her wary. "Human…? But… you look like a vulpix to me. At least, I think you do…? You don't look like any vulpix I've heard of…"

 _A…_ The honesty of that statement slapped her. Reality. Hurt. As Astrid looked down with eyes non-native to this land, or any land known about, she came to realize how true those two words were. An ache became known in her chest as two nimble paws (too small, too thin for a naturally born vulpix) became known, as she looked back, and saw six tails waving back with almost sickly cheerfulness behind her. A tale rose from behind the memory-lock, the voice of (who?) spinning a tale of what was once looked on in awe.

 _A Shaymin once died at the hand of a human—oh, don't look at me like that! It get's better! Anyway, that human, feeling remorse for their actions, went to the shrine of the god Arceus, pleading through prayer to give the little Shaymin another chance, for it had been but a child and had not lived the life given to it. After many remorseful prayers, Arceus gave back the shaymin's soul, warning that a body given back a soul would change. And change it did. The body twisted upon itself, the soul changing what was once a grass to ghost and flying to dragon. Soon, the human stood not before the pure form of a shaymin, but the god-like twisting that soon became known as Giratina. The beast thanked the human profusely, gifting it the same blessing bestowed upon it to them and their line…_

It was a terrible thing, knowing…

"I am dead…" She muttered, almost too soft for the innocent before the spectral parody of a vulpix.

"P-Pardon?!" Matt gaped, and Astrid suddenly remembered the other. "You… But how?"

The walls slammed into place, and she stood tall and masked. "Genetics," was her cryptic answer, and her narrow-and-wide look _dared_ him to question her. He didn't, so she continued. "I think, in light of my predicament, I should take you up on your offer. That is, if you _were_ indeed asking? I know that, from what I recall, it seems a _tad_ odd to offer your home to a stranger _you just met_ , but then again, that _could_ just be me…"

Matt stood, stunned by her sudden change and breakdown of what may be an offer. That he wasn't even sure he was offering. Then he grinned and said: "Sure! I mean—yeah it's a bit weird, but you seem to have amnesia, on top of being… uh… but you don't seem to be a bad pokémon-person, and we can _totally_ get to know each other on the way!"

Astrid smirked a bit, not _too_ surprised at the mudkip's fast rebound. The kid was smart, she'd give him that, but he was also too innocent, which she felt was in too little supply. She hummed, thinking over his offer. "Deal. Lead the way, kid."

He grinned wider (if that was possible), jumping up with energy more custom for a chimchar then a mudkip to lead the way. Astrid smiled, following the kid at her own, more sedated pace. He chattered back at her, giving her tidbits and other things she need to know almost seamlessly as he chattered about almost nothing and everything.

 _Anyone without any silver in their head could have easily passed him off for air-headed_ , Astrid thought. _Good thing I'm platinum._

She talked back with just as much silk, knowing by now that if he was smart enough to talk about seemingly nothing and everything, but really told of himself, he could understand the same treatment. Anyone who'd seen them would have pitied the kid, for they surely thought that she was going to rob the foreigner boy. Luckily, she was planning to do the exact opposite.

Astrid learned that Matt lived by himself after leaving the orphanage in Pokémon Square to become an explorer at Wigglytuff's Guild ("…to the north of the crossroads! Oh, it's simply magnificent with its…"), that his favorite color was the color of light running through water (hers was purple, though when asked what kind she replied: "I honestly am not familiar with too many colors."), and that he absolutely _adored_ spicy foods (she replied that he could have any tomato berry that passed to her plate). She learned of his yearning of adventure and love of history (something that they continued to talk about for _ages_ after) and that the sash around his neck held his personal treasure: a rock with odd patterns on it that looked like nothing just junk to the untrained eye.

"It looks rather like a key," Astrid said as they came to a stop in front of a bush.

"I thought so too, which is why I picked it up! I know that it _looks_ like junk, but I think that it could be the key to a treasure or, or a _hidden land_!" His eyes (which in the light of the setting sun were the deepest green she had ever witnessed) positively _glowed_. Astrid couldn't help but grin. "How amazing would that be? All the treasure we could find…"

Astrid cocked her head and widened her eyed to baby-level cuteness. "Are… you implying that you want me to… _join_ … you on your awesome adventures?"

Matt's tirade stuttered to a halt, and a blush bloomed on his face. Astrid fought down a grin and continued.

"I mean… we _did_ only just meet, but somehow… it feels as if I have known you forever… Strange, huh?" This time she did grin. "Think on my offer, kid, and in the meantime, why don't you show me where you live, hm?"

Matt only stared at her, and stared, and stared. Finally, her words registered and the smile that split his face made her laugh. "Alright! Here! If you move over this bush…"

Her heart warmed. There were far too many innocent things in this world, that was true. They needed to be protected. Guarded. And Astrid felt that if she left this kid to fend for himself in this cruel, cruel world, then that pure flower would be stomped on, and the seeds incinerated. Besides, she couldn't trust a job she could very much do herself to just _anyone_ , could she?

Looking at him now, as he bounced around the cavern of Sharpedo Bluff, she knew the answer.

No. No she couldn't.

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 **A/N: For those of you who have read the previous version: do you like the changes? What** _ **could**_ **have been done better? I like to hear you guys' thoughts, honestly! Also, to avoid confusion, I think that 'memory' and 'knowledge' are two different things, hence the 'memory of a babe' at the beginning. I also hope you like Astrid's 'Slytherin' personality, without** _ **all**_ **of the negative connotation to boot, and Matt's naive brilliance. I decided to kick out Team Skull's involvement (for now) and made sure to set up the whole 'let's be a team!' thing better. I hope you all liked it so far, and let's never forget that hearing your guys' thoughts** _ **always**_ **inspires me to write!**

 **See ya next time!**

 **/M_L**


	2. Chapter Two: The New Explorers

**A/N: Yay! New chapter! Enjoy!**

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Astrid drifted down the dirt streets of Treasure Town, lost in both thoughts and direction. In the weeks since she had found herself on Tidepool Beach, she and Matt had become friends, and while they weren't so close as of yet, they were most definitely not just mere acquaintances. Astrid knew that she had few friends as a human, knew that the few she did collect stayed so, and given that 'knowledge' (she was hesitant to call a gut-feeling something so concrete), she also knew that her decision had been the right one. Still, why did something gnaw at her? Something felt… _off_. She couldn't place it, couldn't begin to understand it, but something was wrong. Was it urgency she felt? Forewarning? Guilt at something she couldn't remember? Astrid tried not to linger too much in such thoughts.

"Hey, Ash!" The nickname made the slightest of smiles quirk at Astrid's lips. Matt had taken to the nickname after a couple of days, and Astrid had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with her species' natural typing.

"Yes, O Excitable One?" She returned.

Matt scowled briefly, then grinned. "I was going to head back to the Bluff, and then I saw you and you looked a bit lost!"

 _In reality or in thought?_ She couldn't help but think, turning an eye to the (unfamiliar) path. "I suppose I am. Would you be so kind as to escort this poor maiden to more familiar grounds?"

"Yeah!" He bounded to her side, taking the lead as he guided her through the dirt paths. "You know, I heard at Spinda's that there's been a rise in Mystery Dungeons lately. Some say that Wigglytuff's Guild has been turning back less teams because of the demand, even though most aren't making it to apprenticeship."

"Oh?" Astrid raised an eyebrow accordingly. "And is this something we should be happy about?"

"What? No!" Matt shook his head, scowling. "If I'm to be one of the greatest explorers some day, I want it to be because the best guild in the region trained me, not because I made the lower cut and got tavern-fame! It's either all or nothing for me!"

Astrid's eyebrow rose a bit higher. "There is no shame in working your way up from the bottom," she commented, coming to a stop at a cross section to talk to him properly. He stopped too.

"I guess, but only one in fifty teams get picked from the low cuts for advanced training, and sometimes a team is torn apart because one member gets chosen and the other doesn't!" Matt gave her a hopeless look. "I don't want to have to disband if one of us gets chosen! I also don't want to face those chances!"

Astrid nodded her understanding. "It is good to aim high, but that also tends to trip up those not prepared to look low."

"I guess…" Matt frowned, and they began walking again. Eventually, they reached the main road and could walk without guiding the other.

Matt had decided a week ago to take her up on her offer of furthering his dream, if only that he'd help her regain her memory. Astrid suspected that he knew as well as her what a twelve-year-old could do in that regard, bit the sediment was appreciated nonetheless. He _was_ young for being an explorer…

"When do you think we will be ready to apply?" She asked as they approached Matt's hide-away home.

"Aren't you the older one?" He asked. Astrid snorted.

"Please, I'm _only_ seventeen. Hardly what you would call an elder." _I trust your judgment._

Matt fell silent. She was content to wait for his answer. Finally, when they reached the bottom of the small stairwell, he said:

"…A week or two, if we keep up with the visits to Tidepool Cave," Matt nodded, sure in his decision.

"A week or two it is. How do you sigh up?"

As it turned out, sighing up for the guild's apprenticeship and becoming an exploration team were two separate things. Obviously, the exploration team bit came first, but only if you _had_ a team. This was done through a basic sign-up sheet, though what it asked was a mystery. Then, for the apprenticeship, there was another paper to fill out (joy) and a bit of a show-and-tell as a team (though it was obvious from earlier's discussion that the 'team' bit was only for how they worked with other pokémon instead of with a select team). Afterwards, Astrid proposed a plan of sighing up to be an exploration team, waiting a day, and then returning for the apprenticeship. Matt had agreed, but thought that maybe a day was too short of a 'rest'. In the end, they decided on three days until they tried their luck. That then turned to a conversation of how they would woo the judges with their awesome performances. By the time they finished taking, both were famished.

Neither felt like putting much thought towards one being chosen over the other.

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A song wormed its way through Astrid's throat as she filled out the paperwork. Off to the side, Matt was talking excitably with Jackson, a bidoof who was apprenticed to the Guild.

 **Number of Members (max. 4, if you are open to increasing your numbers, please state so)**

 _Two; our team is open to new members_

That was a point she had talked with Matt about the other day. His answer of 'the more the merrier!' had reminded the delta type of someone she's known. The thread had slipped away before she could fully grasp it.

 **Please state the name and/or species, level, and move set of your team members.**

 _Astrid; Vulpix; Level 12; Move set includes Confusion, Ember, Confuse Ray, and Roar_

 _Matt; Mudkip; Level 9; Move set includes Growl, Tackle, Water Gun, and Mud-Slap_

 **What is your team's name?**

Astrid hesitated. "Matt, could you spare a minute?"

"Sure!" Matt bid farewell to his new friend and bounded over. "What's up?"

Instead of answering, she tapped the question with the pen. "Any ideas?"

It was the one thing they forgot to talk about the previous day. Matt seemed to realize this.

"Um… not something like 'Poképals'?" Astrid snorted. That was the name of a team that frequented Spinda's Café for the… stronger-tasting drinks. They constantly feuded with Razor Wind (another team), and were always a stone's throw away from poverty due to their hobby. No, Astrid would rather not be named something as lame as that. "It has to be fitting… and I don't think that 'Hellfire' would be accepted."

"I think not," Astrid said with mock severity. "To think of what Elder Torkoal would think of such a name…!"

Matt giggled. "Something that sticks out! In a good way!"

"I would hate to be named for—" Astrid turned her head to the side and sneezed a blue flame. Despite the fact that blue fires burned the hottest, her flames would barely tickle, a fact that Matt found out when she accidentally sneezed on him. But just because her flames didn't hurt didn't mean that her attacks didn't, either. "An _annoying_ quirk, though."

This earned her a sagely nod. "Yes… what about 'Renegade'?"

That… struck a cord with the vulpine, though why… "Renegade, huh?" She tested it out, rolling it around in her mind. "That sort of reminds me of something… Never mind—it is gone. Plus it has a nice, solid chime to it, no?"

Matt had brightened at the mention of recognition, but chose not to address it. "Team Renegade. Oo! Maybe we can get cool codenames to go along with such an awesome name!"

"Well, _I_ think we can get codenames after we get apprenticed."

As they continued talking, Astrid willed the pen to write.

 _Team Renegade_

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The three opponents faced each other. Two against one, each side waited for some unknown signal to begin. The only water-type shifted, his youth giving him a shorter patience than the others, and the Loudred released a Supersonic.

 _Normal_ , Astrid thought, taking the charge as Matt dodged the undulating sound waves. Sound warped slightly as the attack hit her, and the smirk on Loudred's face meant that he had mistyped her. _His mistake_.

She snarled, blue-bell flames spewing from her mouth as she released a mouthful of embers into the normal-type's face. His shock cost him precious time needed to dodge, and her aim hit true. She retreated, almost too slow to move out of the way of her partner's Mud-Slap. Not acknowledgement of the near miss came other then Matt's small scowl, as Loudred had already recovered enough to dodge half of the spray.

"How did that not WORK?!" Loudred snarled, leaping towards the ghost-type. "I HIT you full on with my Supersonic!"

Astrid grimaced three tails suffered a Stomp (she had miscalculated the other's position. Blast her lame eye), but was otherwise unaffected. Loudred stumbled as a Water Gun hit him, allowing Astrid to escape. She hissed a blue flame at the offender as she passed.

"Consider the type of move you used," was all she offered before retreated to Matt's side. She spared a glance towards the judges. The Guildmaster's eyes were positively _glowing_ as he looked on, while Chatot frowned as he thought. Melody, a chimecho and a senior apprentice to the guild, was trying (trying) not to grin.

They fell back to circling, and Astrid felt that Loudred would wait for them this time. She turned slightly to Matt. "What to try that combo?"

"Yeah!"

Matt charged. However, before he could get far, he let loose a ferocious Growl. Then he proceeded to cover his ears. Loudred scoffed.

"HA! It'll take more then that to—"

 _Gwaaargh!_

Astrid has leaped over Matt's back, a mighty Roar unheard of in such a small creature was released mid-air. Loudred shouted in fright, and Matt wasted no time in attacking with a Mud-Slap. Astrid landed, and both her lame right and perfectly-functional left eye glowing as her Confusion altered the Mud-Slap's path slightly. Both moves struck, toppling the larger foe.

The two stood, panting slightly as Loudred grumbled and stood. The electric glow bleed from Astrid's eyes until only the lame held the slight, ghostly glow. Astrid was slightly shocked to see that he wasn't even winded.

Chatot fluttered between the two parties before they battle could continue. "That's enough," He squawked. "I believe that we have seen enough..?" The other two nodded, one trying to be somber (trying) and the other's eyes gleaming. "Yes, and am I correct in assuming that you also have questions?" More nods. "Right, you are dismissed, Loudred."

The normal-type grumbled as he walked off towards what Astrid assumed to be the apprentice housing.

"Um, how were you not affected by Loudred's Supersonic, Astrid?" Melody asked after she'd given the two oran berries.

Astrid contemplated her answer as she chewed. Finally, she swallowed and said: "I am a delta-type—ghost."

"A rare thing indeed…" Guildmaster Wigglytuff hummed, then asked. "How long have you two know each other, friends?"

It was Matt who answered. "A little over a month, Guildmaster."

Astrid hummed and nodded, her mouth full with the berry.

"That was some impressive teamwork for knowing each other for a month," Chatot commented.

Astrid sneezed a bit of flame. "We have been working together for the length of that time, sir. We reached an agreement when we met, and, as a friend, I intend to keep my side."

Matt nodded emphatically. "She's been teaching me all these cool stunts, too!"

"Dodging could barely be considered a stunt, Matt."

"It is if you have to dodge fire!"

"You know as well as I that my flames are harmless outside of moves."

"It's still fire!"

Astrid snorted, resting her chin on her paw. "Whatever you say."

Chatot cleared his throat. "You said your flames are harmless?"

Astrid perked up a bit. "Oh, yes. I believe it has something to do with my delta-typing. My core flame is still there, but, seeing as I am technically dead, isn't required as a heat-source, and is therefore ghost-fire."

Melody squeaked. "You're… dead?"

A bit of flame was huffed out through her nose. "I cannot fully explain."

"Being a ghost-type does mean that one is technically dead, friend," the Guildmaster explained to the medic. "But that does not mean that they aren't alive!"

"Yes," Chatot agreed. "Only a small percentage of ghost-types are born as such. Most have lived once, died or have brushed close to death, and changed forms. In Ms. Astrid's case, I can assume that she has brushed close to death, and has only changed types."

Said fox hummed, left eye closing as she neither confirmed or denied his claim. She distinctly recalled the _feeling of shattering bones and—_

"Um, are we free to leave…?" Matt's voice lifted her from her dark thoughts, and the memory slipped away into oblivion.

"Oh! Yes!" The Guildmaster nodded. "We'll send a letter via Pelipper with our decision!"

"Thanks!" Matt called back as he climbed the ladder.

Astrid sent back a small smile. However, a thought ate at her attention.

 _What… was that?_

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A fat, dark disc hovered low in the night sky. Stars and planets became blocked as it made its slow accent, giving no light as it was so accustomed to doing. It was a new moon.

And the shadows came out to _play_.

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 _She stood, halfway between awareness and sleep, lethargic and puppet-like. Nothing seemed to faze her, not the shadows dancing all around, nor the hushed whispers of the shadows._

 _ **Death child**_ _, they whispered._ _ **Sister of the hangman—the axe-man. Bringer of death. Death's angel.**_

 _Slowly, her left eye—the awake eye—slid shut, and her lame right snapped awake. The pupil widened and narrowed, and for the first time since the nightmare began, she was aware._

 _ **Death child. Sister of the hangman. Bringer of death. Death's angel.**_

 _She flinched. Her eye searched the dark in a despite attempt to find the source of the whispers. They were everywhere—hissing and muttering those words over and over and over until it became an unbearable sound…_

 _She whimpered, falling to her knees as her hands rose to cover her ears. The cries grew louder, responding to her weakness with taunting jibes and—_

 _Silence came so abruptly that she almost screamed. Her hands fell hesitantly, and an eye that she didn't remember closing opened._

 _She was somewhere different. Shadows still stretched the earth and twisted the trees, but she could_ see _. Dumbfounded, she rose, casting her only eye around. Everything was… grey, as if the colors of the world had been leached from the land. Well, all except her._

 _A noise. She flinched, hands halfway to her ears before she realized that this sound was a breath. A ragged, labored breath, but still a far cry from the whispers. Hesitantly, she turned and suddenly wished she hadn't._

 _A man, front red with blood as he struggled to breath around the Honedge in his chest. She couldn't move, a sudden, horrible sense of familiarity crushing down on her heart. This was… he was…_

" _No!" The sob would have made her turn had she been able, but she was locked in place. A girl—ten? Twelve?—ran_ through _her, and suddenly she was seeing things through the girl's mind._

' _He can't be… No, no, no…' "Brother…! You…" She reached forward, ignoring the warning croak from her brother's lips as she grasped the handle of the sword. It was_ killing _him! It had to be… to be…_

 _Blue shrouded her mind—her vision—and a misty calm filled her. She didn't realize that she was ridged, the sword's—her_ friend's _—crystal eye staring straight into her right._

 _ **Wield me?**_ _it asked._ _ **Use my blade to cut down those that did this!**_

 _Her left eye slid to the sight of her brother—dead as he bathed in his own blood._

' _Brother…'_

 _ **We will avenge him**_ _, it promised. They turned, stiff at first as their combined consciousness grew used to the other's thoughts. Together, they followed the path carved through the underbrush by those_ _ **monsters.**_ They _had stolen her brother from her. She was going to steal their lives. They. Will._ _ **Pay.**_

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 **A/N: O.o And so the nightmares begin! What are your thoughts in this chapter? Is it better than the last? Notice anything that I missed in the editing? Put it in the box down below! I love reviews of all shapes and sizes, and hearing your thought inspires me to write!**

 **Until next time!**

 **/M_L**


	3. Chapter Three: Screaming

**EDIT: I've decided to make the chapter three of the game one chapter here, and will do the same for the other chapters no matter the length. Why am I doing this? I was looking over the old chapter three, and I saw how long it was in comparison to this chapter before I added the other stuff. You** ** _may_** **have to read through the whole thing again, if you've already read it, because I'm adding more stuff to the already-there stuff. If that makes sense. =P**

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A strangled gasp broke the tranquility of Sharpedo Bluff. The vulpine responsible struggled to calm her breathing, trying hard to _remember_ … A man. The Honedge. The slaughter. Unwittingly, her paw rose to hover over her lame eye. She remembered Matt commenting on it once, how it was always half-closed and glowed faintly. She shivered, the gemstone eye of the Honedge coming to mind. And that man… she could only remember small things: his silvery hair, the blood-soaked crest on his shoulder… that crest. It was important, but how…

Her left eye glowed as Confusion grabbed a stick and scribbled in the dirt. Wraith Clan. Why was that so important to her? Was that her home?

A snarl of frustration made it past her lips as she canceled her move. The image was half-done, but she couldn't care less. A look outside told her she'd gotten only three hours of sleep, and she knew that she wouldn't be falling asleep anywhere between now and dawn.

Not if the bushes kept whispering like that. Astrid shivered again. Matt was still asleep, so she grabbed a piece of paper and wrote a quick note in case he woke up.

 _If I am not back by the time you wake up, I am most likely at Spinda's_

 _-Ash_

Task done, she pinned it to the bulletin board besides the fountain. There. Maybe she could take a nap later, catch up on the sleep she lost. But at the moment, she wanted a good drink.

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Since she had first visited the bar/café/raffle shop, Astrid had fallen in love with Spinda's Apple Tea. She always kept an apple or two in her bag, and always tip the eccentric pokémon for his delicious concoctions.

"Oh my, you're here rather early," Spinda hummed as he tottered by to take her order. "Do you want the usual?"

Astrid hummed. "Can you give it something to wake me up? The coming day has the feel one… so nothing Poképals would drink."

"So poetic!" Spinda grinned, taking her apple back to the counter. Astrid rested her head on the table to wait.

The buzz of the late-night patrons was, somehow, calming. She sighed, allowing her eyes to slide shut. She was awoken from her trance by a gentle (if shaky) hand. It was Spinda. Astrid smiled at him, taking her drink and dropping a few poké onto the tray as he tottered off.

As always, the drink was delicious, with a slight warming component that woke her up completely. She allowed her eyes to travel across the patrons, recognizing some and frowning at others. In all honestly, she usually did this when she first entered any establishment. She didn't berate herself; her nightmare ( _…they grinned as another fell…_ ) was excuse enough not to. Still, she couldn't help but notice the distinct lack of a certain team…

"Razor," she greeted as she changed seats. The zangoose hummed in acknowledgement, but otherwise did not look up from his mug of (from the smell) Figy Berry Ale. Her nose wrinkled slightly. It usually cost for any kind of 'alcoholic' (usually just the essence of a tomato berry mixed with various other things) beverages from Spinda, so long as you provided a fruit, gummi, or beverage for the flavor. He never, _ever_ served his ale straight up (she had been there with Matt when Poképals kicked up a fuss about it and had been banned from the bar for a week).

Her eyes shifted from Razor to his teammates. Slasher (the sandslash) and Flit (the scyther and the only female on the team) watched her with unimpressed and curious gazes (respectively) before turning back to their drinks (though it was curious to see that Flit had just a Green Gummi Smoothie). She granted them that much; she was part of an exploration team with virtually no status and her being an obvious foreigner. She turned back to Razor.

"Usually Poképals are around when you guys are," she said after taking a sip of her tea. "Did they get a mission?"

"Ain' my bus'ness 'en those idio's get a job," He grumbled.

Flit giggled. "More like they got a tip-off about their leader. They haven't been the same since she went missing." She leaned forward towards the vulpix with a glint in her eye. "You're a platinum chip, girly, so say we trade a bit for bit, hm?"

"A trade of what sorts?" Astrid turned from the two males. Both sported a red flush so bright it was a wonder how they hadn't done something stupid yet. "I can only tell you so much, you know."

"So says the 'vine," Flit grinned. "I'll tell you _all_ about Poképals' lost leader, _if_ you play courier for me."

"And I'm the… 'courier' you want?" Astrid took a sip of her beverage. "Depends on the job."

"You're a whip!" Flit giggled again. "The 'vine says that the newly instated Team Renegade went after a guild apprenticeship, and, as it turns out, I've been working on getting something to one of the apprentices there since these two banned us from the place." She mock glared at the two before continuing. "I've tried others to get this thing to him, but they either clam at the first signs of something _some_ might disapprove of, or are too idiotic to handle it. You're smart, girly, and I like how you treat the kid."

"Oh?" The vulpine prompted.

Flit waved her aside. "He's a good ear and gossip, but he's never once spilled a secret he's been told to keep. He also might have done something for me once or twice. Anyway, I can't say anything more than what I've already said until you accept."

 _This delivery isn't exactly legal._ "What else might I get?"

"An ear to the ground and eyes on your back if you get stuck somewhere, provided you keep contact," Flit hummed. By now her teammates were having a very… _interesting…_ conversation about their mothers.

Astrid gave them a strange look. "Are they always like this?"

Flit laughed. "They have the same conversation every time—they're just too drunk to remember anything."

That would explain why she was so comfortable talking about such things around them. She was the kind that worked in the background.

"I see. What do I need to do, exactly?" Astrid inquired.

"Deliver this," she placed a leather pouch on the table, "to Croagunk and tell him this time's free—to return the favor I owe him, if he asks. I don't care if you look inside, but I will if you damage anything."

"That is fair." Astrid nodded. In her eyes, she saw the usefulness of Flit's offer. Even if the tale-for-job wasn't fair, that wasn't the point. Flit needed a constant contact between her and Croagunk, and her offer of ears and a helping hand was more than welcome. She felt like she'd need someone like Flit later. "So what is this about Team Poképals' leader?"

Flit grinned. "Before that, how about we trade names? I'm Flit, if the kid hasn't told ya."

"It is just trade after trade for you, huh?" Astrid grinned. "Astrid."

"I'll call you Chip," Flit winked. "Now, awhile back, say, ten years, Team Poképals had been apprenticed to the guild. They started with just Infernape (he was Chimchar then) and that prinplup—Samuel. They were great lads at first, fun to poke and provoke. Razor liked them then, too. Then they let an Eevee join their team, and you could tell she was part 'pika because her ears had been tipped in black. She called herself Kiki. Somehow, she got into the guild awhile later, and that's where their fame skyrocketed.

"Before Kiki joined, it was Samuel that lead the team, though he tried to even out the load. When she joined, he fell head over heels for her, and was all too happy to let her lead. The chimp wasn't too happy about that, but he warmed up to her, eventually." The scyther sighed. "They struck the jackpot seven years ago—a golden room job, I think; those were rarer back then than they are now. The job after that, Kiki got spooked, but Samuel insisted on going on ahead. It went downhill after that. I don't know the particulars, but the basic outline is that the job had been bugged, and Kiki went with the opposing party for whatever reason—with most of her team's money, I might add. Some say she wasn't apart of the team in the first place, others that her teammates just up and left her when the going got tough—thought that's just shit. Back then, Chimchar and Samuel were the most loyal teammates a team could have."

"What are your thoughts?" Astrid questioned.

Flit hummed, tapping the tips of her blades on the table. "I think her past caught up to her."

Astrid was smart enough to know not to question her new acquaintance. As it was, a certain blue amphibian didn't allow for any more conversation.

"Ash!" Matt practically yelled, though the letter in his mouth muffled everything he said. "'ha le'her's here it's—hello Fli'!"

Flit snorted—something that happened often around the twelve-year-old. "Squirt." She stood. "I'm going to take these two back to base—else they drink up Spinda's stock."

The team watched as she dragged her teammates out of the café. Astrid turned towards her partner and friend.

"The results?" She motioned towards the letter.

"Yeah!" He said after he spat out the letter. "I'm so nervous…"

Astrid smiled at him as she lifted the letter with Confusion. That move was a nice replacement for her hands, better if she counted the added reach. She opened it and read:

 _"Dear Team Renegade: Both of you show great promise as explorers. Watching your battle against our senior most apprentice was very insightful on not only your skills in battle, but also your skills when working together. Astrid, your cunning use of your delta typing to your advantage was impressive and very intuitive. Matt, your watchful eye for openings is surprising and refreshing for one so young. That being said, we of Wigglytuff's Guild look forward to working with you both. Come by the guild as soon as you can for your initiation as apprentices of Wigglytuff's Guild."_

Matt was staring at her in disbelief. Smiling, she hovered the page for him to read. He did so, and then—

"We… did it," he breathed. Suddenly he grinned. "Astrid! We're apprentices at the guild! We made it!"

.

.

"THERE they are!" Astrid's ears flicked back a bit at the (loud) greeting. Loudred.

"Hello," She nodded to him and the rest of the guild.

Her eyes scanned the apprentices. She didn't know the sunflora, corphish, or diglett, recognizing Loudred, Jackson, Melody, and Croagunk. Matt grinned at her side.

"Hey, hey, hey! So these are the kids you told us about!" The corphish scuttled up to her. "I'm Corphish."

"Obviously," Astrid smirked. "You may call me Astrid, though I'm afraid that my partner here is the only kid on this team."

"Hey! You're seventeen!" Matt retorted with a scowl.

Astrid shrugged him off. "That is my estimate of my age, yes, but for all you know, I could be much older."

"Or younger."

"Or younger," Astrid conceded, smiling.

"What do you mean by 'your estimate?'" The sunflora asked.

"I am sad to say I cannot remember by true age…" Astrid thought. "Or much else. You are?"

"Oh! I'm Sunflora, but call me Flora!" Flora grinned excitably. "Oh my gosh, it's been years since we've had new apprentices!"

"Yup, yup!" Jackson agreed. "It's just wonderful that ya'll made the cut. No one does, these days."

"That's enough, now," the high, clear voice of Chatot cut in. "There will be time enough for introductions once Team Renegade is initiated."

"Oh my gosh! Loudred didn't say you two were a team!" Flora squealed, her tone making Astrid's ear twitch. She was almost as bad as Loudred!

"Well, I THOUGHT they were just applying at the same time!" Loudred hollered.

"Hush!" Chatot snapped before Flora could retort. "Inside voices only! I believe that we have talked on this subject before, am I correct?" He waited until Loudred mumbled a 'Yes' before continuing. "Now, would you two come with me? We have to get you initiated into the guild, after all!"

He led them behind a potted tree, where a hidden corridor sat. A shiver ran down her spine as they entered. _The Guild has its own mystery dungeon?_ Chatot stopped just short of the 'entrance'.

"One thing that makes this Guild so special is it's two-way mystery dungeon," Chatot said.

"A what?" Matt asked, and Astrid spoke up before Chatot could explain.

"Normally, when you complete a mystery dungeon, it ends in a dead end, and when you turn back, the way out is clear and unpopulated." Astrid waited for her partner to nod before continuing. "Sometimes, a mystery dungeon is part of a path, meaning that there is no dead-end. When this happens, usually, a second mystery dungeon forms and overlaps the other, only heading the opposite direction. Hence: a two-way mystery dungeon."

Chatot hummed. "You are correct. Pray tell, how did you learn this?"

Astrid shrugged. "I lived in an area with a lot of mystery dungeons."

Matt gave her a look, but let the matter slide. "So, why are you showing this to us, Chatot?"

"Because in cases of emergency, _this_ is our evacuation point," Chatot waved a wing to the dungeon. Astrid nodded. That made sense. "This dungeon is called 'Cliffside Labyrinths,' and per the name, there is a grand total of four dungeons."

"Four?!" Matt took a seat. "That's a lot!"

"How many chambers and exits?" Astrid asked.

"Six chambers, and four exits excluding this one," Chatot answered. "Your initiation is to find every chamber and exit. If one of you faints, you'll both end up back here, and you'll fail. This is a gage of your navigational and survival skills. Gather a flag from each of the sites, and return back here _without fainting_ , and you two will pass. You are being timed, beginning now."

The two watched as the head of intelligence hopped off. Then, Astrid pulled Matt to his feet with Confusion and headed off.

"Coming?"

.

.

"Hey, Ash, what's a 'chamber' in a mystery dungeon."

"It's a way-point between the 'lower' and 'higher' levels; sometimes if you faint in the 'higher' levels, and there's an active Kangaskhan Stone in the chamber, then you return to the chamber instead of the entrance."

"An _active_ Kangaskhan Stone? I thought they were all active."

"Yes, well, there are some pokémon-made dungeons too, like at Marowak's Dojo. My guess is that Cliffside Labyrinths are poké-made, and that the Kangaskhan Stones are that way, too, and can be deactivated, unlike their naturally occurring counterparts."

"Oh. That makes even more—wah!"

"And watch out for that pit-fall."

"Ash! That's not funny!"

"It is a little bit."

"Just get me out of here!"

"I suppose. Unless there is something—"

"WAH! Spinarak! Help-help-help!"

 _Fwoosh!_

 _"Burns! Fskt! Fskt!"_

" _Help!_ Its coming closer!"

 _"Water! Water…! Fskt!"_

"You really need to get over your fear. Put the poor thing out first, and then I'll bring you up."

"Water Gun!"

 _Shhhh…_

" _Now bring me up!_ "

"Hold tight."

.

.

"Ash, its still following us…"

"So? They are probably grateful to you for 'saving' them."

 _"Fskt! Will'o'wysp one is right! I am grateful to Fyrebane! I want to help Fyrebane! Fskt!"_

"Wah!"

"Oh, how kind. _What does Puzzledweller call self?"_

"Astrid, don't talk like it!"

 _"Puzzledweller calls self Rkune! Fskt! What does Will'o'wysp call self?"_

 _"Ghostfyre calls self Astrid. Fyrebane calls self Matt._ Matt, this is Rkune."

"How can you understand it?!"

"I can speak Bug. Also, Rkune is female; it is rude to call her 'it.'"

 _"Why are Askrid and 'Att here? New? Fskt!"_

 _"New. We are looking for six resting rooms with large stone creatures."_

" _Rkune knows where they are!"_

"Rkune knows where the chambers are. _Can Rkune give direction? We are testing."_

 _"Yes! Fskt! Keep going way Askrid and 'Att were going! I scurry before Askrid and 'Att, 'ark direction in web! Fskt!"_

 _"Matt and I are grateful to Rkune."_

"Wah!"

 _"Come back again? Fskt!"_

 _"Yes_! …That went well."

"What _was_ that?"

"A conversation in Bug language. Come on, Rkune said she'd mark the direction to the next chambers from this one."

"Oh…"

"Just be glad Rkune was not a Joltik—they speak a mesh of Electric and Bug, and I can barely understand Electric."

.

.

"Six chambers, six colors. Like a rainbow!"

"What colors do you believe the exits' flags will be?"

"Um… Black, white, maybe a brown?"

.

.

"I was right!"

"Wonderful! Now we need to find the final exit. I think the flag will be cyan."

"Really? Well, _I_ think it'll be magenta!"

"Are you willing to bet five poké on that?"

"Yeah!"

.

.

"Aw man!"

"I expect you to pay me when we go into town next."

"It's not fair."

"Neither is life. You coming?"

"Hey! Wait up!"

.

.

"Wah!"

 _"Fskt! Rkune was helpful?"_

 _"Rkune was helpful. Matt and I are grateful to Rkune."_

 _"Come by Labyrinth again!"_

 _"Astrid and Matt will!"_

"Don't _do_ that! You're being creepy…"

" _Fskt! Fskt!"_

" _Ash!"_

"Yes?"

"That's not _funny!"_

"I think it is."

 _"Ash!"_

.

.

"Done already?" Chatot asked, looking surprised.

"Matt gained favor with one of the spinarak inside," Astrid explained. "I asked if Rkune could help set up in the right directions, which she did willingly."

"…if I never see another… too soon…"

They turned to Matt, who looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"…Sadly, Matt is not too fond of bug-types in general." Astrid sighed.

Chatot hummed. "Hm. I see. And the flags?"

"Right h-here, sir…" Matt handed over the flags shakily.

"Wonderful~!" Chatot beamed at the two. "Well, now! Team Renegade is officially apart of the guild!"

"R-really?" Matt perked up, grinning so widely that Astrid had to smile, too.

"Yup~!" Chatot fluttered out of the hidden corridor. "If you'll follow me, we will got you two properly equipped!"

Astrid shared a look with her partner before Matt took the lead. She smiled.

Chatot led them to the Guildmaster's room, motioning them to wait while he went in. They made small talk while they waited. When Chatot returned, it was to Astrid speaking Bug to a shuddering Matt.

 _"Fskt! Fskt!"_

" _Stop_ that!"

"You seem perfectly comfortable with Flit, _Fyrebane."_

"Is _that_ what Rkune called me? And I'm comfortable with Flit because I've gotten used to her!"

Smiling at the bickering, Chatot cleared his throat. "Is everything alright, here?"

Astrid turned to the intelligence head. "Very much so."

"She was teasing me!"

"Is it my fault you have a phobia of bug-types?" Astrid threw back.

"You don't have to—"

A squawk interrupted them. Again, Chatot cleared his throat. "Now, now! You'll have time to bicker _after_ you open this!" He set down the golden box in his wings. Matt gasped.

"Is that an Exploration Kit?" His eyes had stars in them, and his forepaw twitched closer to the box.

"Open it and see!"

Astrid let Matt open the box, instead standing to the side to view the contents. Two satchels altered for four-legged pokémon, a rolled up bit of parchment she guessed to be a map, two exploration badges, two white squares of sturdy, silky fabric. Matt pulled out his half of the stuff, taking the map (they both knew from experience that Astrid and maps did _not_ mix). Astrid took her badge (it had a compass in the back, too!) and satchel, leaving behind the white fabrics.

"Your map is largely unmarked," Chatot explained as Matt rolled it out. "It is up to you two to mark it as you see fit, though I and the elder apprentices will be more than willing to point out the destinations of your missions."

"What about the fabrics, sir?" Matt pointed at the cloths as Astrid lifted them with Confusion.

"Ah, yes. These are Aura Bows, but the 'Bow' part is a bit of a misnomer." Chatot studied the cloths for a second, then continued. "Aura Bows absorb a bit of aura from the owner, and will change color accordingly. We give each of our apprentices one with the Guild's insignia stitched in the corner."

That's right. Astrid had seen some of the guild members wearing the same material.

"That's awesome!" Amazement was not a rare emotion to Matt, Astrid noted as she dropped a square into Matt's waiting paws. It bled a royal cobalt, with a rippling sheen that reminded the vulpine of light through water. Fitting, considering the mudkip's favorite color. "So pretty..! Ash! Take yours! See what color your aura is!"

Astrid huffed a laugh, swirling her cloth around her neck like a cloak. Matt gasped, and Astrid pulled a bit of the clothe into her sight.

A beautiful rippling silver with faint shades of an eerie blue. Astrid smiled, bunching the rest of her gift around her neck when the 'cloak' got a bit irritating. Besides, she liked scarves.

"Now that that's settled, I'll show you to your rooms."

.

.

"You are Croagunk, right?"

Croagunk turned from his cauldron, one lazy eye scanning the new apprentice. _Astrid,_ his mind supplied. "Meh, heh, heh. That's me."

The ghost nodded, left eye glowing to match her right as she used Confusion to hover a leather pouch into his hands. "Flit," she explained simply.

He flashed a razor smirk as he looked at the contents. "Payment?"

"Covered via favor."

Croagunk nodded, turning back to his cauldron. The rookie had turned to leave when the amphibian called her back. "Meh, heh, heh. Here." He dropped the pouch onto the counter, and the girl looked inside. "Gummis."

She laughed, thanked him, and was off. Croagunk watched her leave with a lazy eye.

 _Strange, that one._

 _._

 _._

The moon was bright, Astrid noted as she stared out at it through the gloom. Her thoughts, however reluctant, returned to the reason why she was awake at such an hour.

 _Darkness. The shadow and utter loneliness was suffocating, and every fiber of her being was trying to reject it, but it was inescapable. She tried to move, to do_ _something_ _, but the darkness had her by her throat. Choking… She couldn't—!_

 _Suddenly, the all-consuming black changed to red, and it was a giant, red-eyed beast that choked her. For a moment, its single eye was clouded with regret and sadness, but then the eye turned cruel, and the hand that had loosened to give her reprieve, tightened until shadows danced. But no… she wasn't fading, but the wall… shadows of pokémon she didn't know danced along the walls, grinning wickedly. The hand tightened further, and the shadows leapt from the walls to become bodies lining the floor, each given a bed of their own blood to lie in._

 _But she didn't know these pokémon. Why…? And suddenly, it wasn't unknown pokémon on the ground, but the bodies of her friends. The members of Wigglytuff's Guild stared up at her with the blank eyes of death._

" _You did this…" a voice (Matt!) laughed._

 _The giant was gone, and she was standing alone among the corpses, no longer human, but a Vulpix choking in her own scarf. She turned towards the voice, and screamed._

 _Matt stood before her, eyes still fogged with death, but he was smiling. Blood seeped from the horrible slash in his throat, burns oozing blood and puss from his ravaged skin. She whimpered, cowering back from the thing that was once her partner, but another blocked her progress._

" _What's the matter,_ friend _?" Wigglytuff asked, leaning over her with fogged eyes and a shaky, but twisted, grin. But then, his head fell off in a spray of gore, and the body collapsed on top of her._

 _She was back in the world of darkness, the shadow and loneliness suffocating…_

 _Astrid shuddered, the room becoming too cramped for her. She made her way past Chatot in the dark, ignoring his sympathetic look as she informed him that she was heading to Spinda's._

 _It was starting to become a habit._

.

.

After a month of training (medically, physically, with others and alone), Team Renegade had finally been allowed to chase after an outlaw unsupervised. At least, _after_ they had run a short mission to Apple Woods to restock the Kecleon Brother's apple supply.

"That's the last of them," said Matt to the purple brother.

Astrid was in the back with the green one to help store away the apples. She came forward, hovering the last fruits to store away.

"Mr. Kecleon!" Astrid paused, turning as the two 'rill children came running up. She smiled. "Can we get two apples, please? I know we don't usually buy this much…"

"Nonsense! It'll be 25poké" The purple brother turned to Astrid once he'd been paid. "Can you give them the apples?"

Astrid nodded, carefully setting down the other apples and jumping down to ground level. "Here you are!" She set one in Marill's hands, and the other on his brother's head.

"B-but we only paid for one!" Marill tried to give the apple back, but the purple brother just laughed.

"Think of it as a gift from me and my brother," He said.

"Oh! Thank you very much Mr. Kecleon!" Marill turned to Azurill. "C'mon Azurill. Let's head home—"

Azurill tripped into his brother, and his apple rolled to a stop at the vulpine's feet. Picking it up, she winked to Matt and Kecleon, swapping the apple with one of her big apples while the brothers were distracted. Azurill hopped up to her.

"Thank you, miss!" Astrid laughed and set the apple on the kid's head.

"No need to thank me, and call me Astrid—'miss' just makes me sound old." Azurill laughed and hopped off after his brother.

"That was very kind of you, dear," Kecleon told her. She shrugged.

"It's the least I can do with that business with their mother."

Astrid stumbled slightly as a wave of dizziness struck her. _What…? This dizziness…_

"I heard that she's starting to get better," Matt was saying. _Why does he sound so far away…?_

"Really? That's…"

 _ **Her vision went black. There was a sharp**_ **zing!** _ **, a flash of white light—**_

 _ **"H-h-h-help!"**_

It was gone before she could comprehend it.

"…wonderful!"

"Isn't it?" Matt turned to her. "Hey—Ash? You look a little spaced out there."

"Hm? Oh, I am fine. I just thought…" _Was that Azurill? Why would he be screaming for help like that?_ "Never mind. Let's head back to the Guild for that outlaw mission."

"You two are doing an outlaw mission already?!" By now, the green brother had joined them again. "Oh, best of luck to you two!"

"Thanks!"

Astrid lead the way to the main square. Upon arriving, the explorers bumped into Marill, Azurill, and one Mr. Drowzee (Astrid was so distracted that she literally bumped into the man).

"Oh, pardon me, miss," Drowzee caught her as she stumbled. Distantly, she noted the scar just under his eye.

"No, I was not watching were I was going," she shook her head to clear it. "My name is Astrid."

The dizziness was back, only stronger. _What? Again?_

"My name is Drowzee," He turned to Matt. "And you are…?"

"Matt," the mudkip supplied. "What's going on, Marill?"

Another wave.

"Mr. Drowzee says he'd seen the item we lost a while back!"

"Really? That's great…!"

 _ **She saw nothing. Again, there was a**_ **zing!** _ **and a flash and suddenly—**_

 _ **She was in a mountainous, rocky terrain. Before her stood Drowzee and Azurill.**_

 _ **"Now if you keep being difficult," Drowzee was saying. "I'm going to have to stop being so nice!"**_

 _ **Azurill looked terrified. "H-h-h-help!"**_

 _ **Another flash—**_

"..so nice to see someone so willing to help out these days."

Matt.

 _What? What had just…? No, that can't be a coincidence._

"I do not trust him." The words were out before she could stop them. Matt looked shocked.

"What? Why? He seemed so nice."

Astrid shook her head. "I saw something. A vision, perhaps…?" Matt gave her a look. Suddenly, he transformed into the corpse from her latest nightmare. She shook the hallucination off. "Drowzee was threatening Azurill, but that cannot be. He was just…"

"Maybe we need to get you checked out by Melody…" Matt was frowning at her, and she frowned back. "You've been stuck in the clouds a lot lately…"

The nightmare was back, and she snapped: "What I saw was not a daydream!" Astrid stopped, sighing the flames at her lips away. "Perhaps you are right. But _after_ our mission. Come. Let us no leave Chatot waiting."

"Yeah! What do you think it'll be like, chasing after an outlaw?"

Astrid refrained from answering. Those nightmares… they were starting to get worse.

.

.

The board turned around, and both Astrid and Matt saw it in the same instant.

It was a wanted poster.

Of Drowzee.

Flames licked at her lips and her tails lashed.

He trembled with a barely restrained rage.

"That _bastard._ "

.

.

"A mountainous area?" Astrid asked. Marill nodded. "Did the b—Drowzee say what the dungeon was named?"

"I think it was… Bristle, something?" Marill scowled at his inability to remember.

 _Mt. Bristle…_

"Mt. Bristle?" Matt asked.

"Yeah! That's it!"

"Right." Astrid nodded to Matt as he pulled out the map, marking down the fasted route. "I need you to head back to Treasure Town and tell Officer Magnezone what has happened so far. Give them Drowzee's poster, and tell them that Team Renegade is on the job, but we'll need backup."

"But—I want to—"

"Ash is right, Marill," Matt soothe the fellow water-type with a smile. "You're job is important. We'll get your brother, Marill. I promise."

"You have my word that your brother is safe," Astrid assured. "Drowzee however… His safety I have no care for, and I doubt you do either."

Marill giggled (he was only eight after all) and headed off after saying goodbyes.

"Shall we go and kick a certain bastard where it hurts?"

"What?"

"Human term. I think."

"Uh…"

"Let us just go."

.

.

"This way," Astrid said, leading the way towards the faint smell of water, Gummis, and dusty sheets.

While Matt was a wizard with traversing from place to place via map, it was Astrid that took the lead in a dungeon. She ultimate dungeon navigator, and with the acute sense of smell she had, she could track better than anyone else in the guild. It was exceptional, really.

Or maybe it was just that she was actually fitted with a proper tracking nose and hunter instincts. Unlike the rest of the guild. Or did Corphish count? Edit: she was equipped with a good nose and _land-based_ hunter instincts.

Mt. Bristle was one of the newer dungeons—Team Renegade had gone with Flora and Loudred to properly explore the place, learning just how to document and classify a new dungeon—and as such, the 'wild' pokémon were still realizing that the dungeon was there. The place was desolate, and the few pokémon they did encounter were low-leveled and easily taken care of.

Even if it was irritating the number of fighting- and normal-typed moved that went right through the delta-type.

They ascended the last staircase.

"I sense two. Dead ahead." Matt murmured.

Astrid acknowledged him with a nod, taking a careful sniff of the air. "That has to be them; their scents' are getting stronger." Though why Drowzee's dusty sheets scent had undertones of ozone was a mystery for a later date.

Astrid led the way down the short hallway, her sharp ears managing to catch the conversation from the two in the main chamber.

 _"Now if you keep being difficult. I'm going to have to stop being so nice!"_

 _"H-h-h-_ _help_ _!"_

 _Astrid's eyes went wide. That was—!_

 _Matt was already charging ahead. "Hey! Drowzee!"_

 _"Crap! An explorer!"_

 _"An exploration_ _team_ _," Astrid growled, glaring daggers at the pokémon standing between her and the child. "You good, Azurill?"_

 _"Mn!" He nodded, tears in his eyes._

 _"Good. And you," she turned to Drowzee, her lame eye glowing sinisterly. "Are in for a_ _bad time_ _."_

 _He seemed to regain his composure, glaring defiantly at Team Renegade. "And what are a buncha rookies gonna do? Talk my ear off? Oh yes, very terrifying."_

 _"We're Team Renegade, apprentices of Wigglytuff's Guild!" Matt declared angrily. "So don't think we can't handle you!"_

 _"Says the kid who's trembling like a leaf!" Drowzee crowed, grinning as Matt flinched. "Admit it, you're_ _terrified_ _. This is probably your first outlaw mission, too! It is! You two are gonna be a—hey, what—!"_

 _"Catch!" Astrid hit the activation button on her badge, tossing it towards Azurill. Drowzee lunged for the device, but Azurill was already gone in a burst of light._

 _"You little bitch!" Drowzee snarled._

 _"_ _Please,_ _" Astrid rolled her eyes. "I am a fox, not a dog."_

 _And charged, Ember blazing forth._

 _Drowzee sneered, a Barrier rising and reducing the Ember to a quarter of its original power._

 _He stumbled back, a Roar making him flinch back into Matt's Mud Shot. They both retreated under a powerful Psybeam, the attack clipping Astrid's shoulder. She cursed as Psychotic Numbness spread through the limb, causing her to stumble._

 _"Ash are you—?"_

 _"Duck!"_

 _Another Psybeam flew past._

 _"Pay attention," She warned. Matt nodded, but worry still shone in his eyes._

Matt charged in a flying Tackle, only to be stopped by a powerful Confusion. He stumbled, too disorientated to dodge Drowzee's hand's as they locked in place on either side of his head. The outlaw's face was mere inches from his as his wide eyes glowed pink. The Hypnosis took effect, Matt's eyes drooping as his body went limp. Astrid snarled, sending a volley of Embers at the dream-eater. He only smirked, lifting Matt as a shield, making Astrid divert her attack last second with Confusion.

"Face it, darling, you're out-classed," Drowzee sneered. "Now, you can either let me go, and both of you rookies get out alive, or I can drop the kid over the side of the mountain." To prove his point, he hovered Matt over the edge, eyes never leaving Astrid.

Astrid growled. "Fine."

"Great! Just move on over to that little hallow over there." Reluctantly, she complied. "Good." He started to move towards the exit. She watched him for a beat, but then turned her eyes worriedly to Matt. That was all he needed.

" _Hypnosis."_

.

.

"He got away?"

Astrid sighed, nodding. "Yes. We underestimated him, leading to failure in capturing him."

"I see." Chatot turned away. Distantly, she noted that he was watching the two brothers fuss over each other. "At least you saved Azurill."

"Hn," Astrid grunted.

"Something bothering you?"

"No." _Yes._ "I am merely disappointed that Drowzee got away." _I was too weak to protect Matt._

"Do not take it so harshly, dear," Chatot gave her a smile. "He has been avoiding the law for years now. It is not surprising that he has gotten away." He paused for a moment. "That being said, it is extremely embarrassing for two apprentices of the guild to run off on an unapproved bounty hunt, never mind that you two have failed to bring the perpetrator to justice. Tell Matt when he wakes that you two are restricted to the guild for the foreseeable future."

"I will."

.

.

"Whoa!" Matt jerked back away from the window. "That lightning's intense! Look's like it's really stormy tonight… Hey! Astrid, you know the night before we met?"

 _You realize that I can't remember that._

"Well, it was storming really bad then." He hummed. "I wonder if these two storms are connected… But isn't it weird that I found you all washed up the next day?"

Astrid hummed. _Yeah, I guess it is._

"Can you remember how you got there?"

 _Do I?_ Astrid closed her eyes and thought. "Nothing."

"That's too bad."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence. Astrid yawned after a little bit, the contagious thing passing on to Matt as he got ready for bed.

"Hey… Astrid? Ya still awake…? I've been thinking about something since it happened."

 _About what?_

"That weird vision you had… Maybe it has to do with you personally."

 _Huh?_

"I sure don't know any other vulpix who dream about the future… Nor have I heard of a human suddenly turning into a pokémon. That's why I think those two events are connected. I just can't shake the feeling, you know?"

 _Like the storms? The dream is the key to unlocking my memory? But even if that were true… How does that relate to anything else?_

"I don't know what you were like as a human, Astrid, but I'm positive you were a good person. I mean—it was because of your dream that we were able to save Azurill!

"You know… Time is getting messed up, bit by bit all over the world. No one knows why, though. But everyone believes that the Time Gears are somehow involved."

Time Gears… It struck a cord in Astrid's memory. A mission of some kind. But why would that be connected to these Time Gears?

"They say that Time Gears are hidden in secret places all over the world. Like in a forest… Or at a lake in an underground cavern… I've even heard that there's a hidden alter inside a volcano! At the center of all of these places, a Time Gear is said to be held. Time Gears serve a very important role in the environment: Each one protects Time and keeps it flowing in its region."

.

 _(Thunder boomed over the darkened forest, rain pelting the earth with an unrelenting force. All creatures worth their sanity would be sheltered up within their tree-hollows and burrows. However, he was on a mission, dashing from cover to cover with the skills of a thief. He stopped briefly under the canopy of a tall oak, glaring hatred at the falling water drops. He was unused to such a_ _wild_ _, untamable force, instead used to the always still life of his homeland. If you could call it that.)_

.

"But… what happens if a region loses its Time Gear? I don't really know the answer to that question…"

.

 _(Grey-pupiled eyes calculated a path through the darkness, and he hoped dearly that it was the correct one. If not…_

 _No time to think of that. He dashed through the pelting water, gritting his teeth against the uncomforting felling of his water-laden arm and foot wrappings. Growling, he pushed forward, shifting the satchel on his shoulder. Why had it been today of all times that he had arrived here? A day later would have been preferred, if the weather had cleared by then. No matter. He did not come to this land to whine away at his misfortune. He knew better than to dawdle.)_

 _._

"I guess that if a Time Gear is removed from its region, the flow of time would stop there, too. I think that's why no one's ever tried to disturb the Time Gears. Everyone believes that some kind of disaster would strike if you did so. Even the most hardened criminals know not to go messing with them."

.

 _("She was right!" He smirked down at the black and white beads on his wrist. Lightning flashed, seconds later to be followed by thunder. "A Time Gear! But this is only the first of many…")_

.

"Well, I guess that's enough storytelling for one night," Matt yawned hugely. "Thanks for… listening, Astrid. Night…"

Astrid followed his example. "Good night, Matt."

.

.

 _She stared in horror at the scene before her. Drowzee laughed._

" _You were too little, too late~!"_

.

.

 **A/N: So yeah. This chapter is three times longer then the other two, which is good? I also have a poll up on my account whether or not you think Team Renegade should get another member.**

 **Anyway, thanks for stopping by, don't forget to leave your thoughts, or any references you've managed to spot, in the box below. Until next time!**

 **/M_L**


	4. Chapter Four: Gates

"We're what?"

"'Restricted to the guild for the foreseeable future,' were his exact words," Astrid quoted. She sipped at her Apple Tea. "I would not worry; he seemed to have approved of our rescue, even if the official standing is that this was a bounty mission."

"Huh. Do you think that we might be able to, um, to visit Rkune?" Matt stuttered, a slight shiver traveling through him. Astrid smiled in approval behind her cup; it really was nice to see him chipping away at his fears. Now if only she could get him to ask after the _swarm_ …

"Look at you, Mr. Fearless," the voice of Team Renegade's _other_ buggy (friend?) acquaintance spoke over Astrid's shoulder. She wasn't at all surprised when Flit slid into the empty seat at their table. "Keep at it an' you'll be asking after the Queen."

Matt's complexion went from blue to ice, and the girls shared a quick laugh at his expense.

"So Flit, what brings you here? More packages to sneak under pillows?" A jest, as it was broad daylight and Astrid knew she could only go intangible long enough to go through a couple walls (that didn't count normal-type attacks—they just went right through her with no effort on her part).

"Or swim up the stream?" Matt added.

Flit shook her head, amused. "Nah. Just here to tell ya that I'm headed off for a bit."

"Can we know why?" Astrid prodded, watching Flit through her narrow right eye.

Flit just smirked. "There is somethin' I found you might want to know about, Chip."

"What about?"

"Your circumstances."

A look was shared between vulpine and amphibian. It was common knowledge by now that Astrid wasn't from the Hidden Isles, her accent was too thick and way of speaking too strange, and the same could be said for her amnesia.

"I am listening."

"When are you not? One of my contacts had a rather curious encounter near Shaymin Village the other day," Flit began. "He was comin' back from a mountain tour when he saw a commotion at the entrance of the village. Obviously, he went to look what was goin' on. Turned out to be a dusknoir, with a strange accent and an 'almost creepy knowledge of shaymin customs.'"

An electric shock ran up her spine. "A... dusknoir?"

"Somethin' tickling in there, Chip?"

Astrid thought... "Nothing at the moment. But what do you mean about shaymin customs?"

Flit waved a scythe. "Somethin' about flowers or other."

"A gracidea offering?" Astrid supplied.

"What's a gracidea offering?" Matt asked.

Astrid gave him an odd look. "It is… a sign of reverence and respect to offer a gracidea to the shaymin. I was told…" she trailed off, expression vacant.

 _You must always treat a shaymin with the utmost respect and reverence by offering them a gracidea._

"Well?" Flit prompted after a minute had passed. Both of Astrid's eyes focused on Flit.

"A family legend," She explained, closing off. "And if this Dusknoir knows it…"

She found she couldn't finish. But she didn't need to.

"I'll keep an eye on him—tell ya where he's headin' and what he's been doing." Flit stood. "See ya, Chip. Squirt."

Flit left, throwing a 'I'll send for ya when those packages need sendin'!' back at the solemn duo.

"Ash…" Matt began, but Astrid was already standing.

"Let us go. There are some things I want to do in town before sundown."

Matt watched her for a second, then leapt up to join her, smiling.

.

.

"Chatot?" Flora asked after the morning cheers. "Where is the Guildmaster?"

Was it just Astrid, or did she see the slightest bit of something devious in the Head of Intelligence's eye?

"He is out scouting with Dugtrio and Croagunk," Chatot sang. "And speaking of… Diglett, you will be taking over your fathers' job for the next couple of weeks. Team Renegade will be alternating between sentry duty and special training. Dismissed!

"Astrid, you go see Loudred; he will instruct you on the details of our sentry system." He turned to Matt. "You will meet me in the Labyrinths. I trust you remember where you got the red flag? See that you are there and ready to run in five minutes."

They shared a look.

 _Have fun._

 _Traitor!_

Astrid snorted, turning, and leaving Matt to his fate.

.

.

Matt was, understandably, nervous.

Normally, he knew what to expect from training. Loudred liked to work with raw strength. Flora favored flexibility. Guildmaster Wigglytuff tested reactions. Croagunk liked stealth.

However, not one bit of that told him what to expect when _Chatot_ was the one doing the training.

 _He said 'run', so speed? Endurance? What—?_

"Gah!"

What he was not expecting was the sudden Fury Attack from straight above.

"Strike one," muttered the avian from an unseen nook above. _Fast!_ "Three strikes before I start using the harsher moves. I'm certain you don't want a direct hit with Chatter? Head to the exit where you found the white flag, then right along the cliffside. Begin."

Matt ran.

If he had the sense to think properly, he'd have labeled Chatot for a mix between Astrid and Guildmaster Wigglytuff.

Astrid liked playing chase.

Matt didn't know whether that was good or bad.

.

.

Astrid did not understand how Diglett could stand being sentry.

Oh, sure, Diglett could sense vibrations through the earth, letting him know long before they stepped onto the grate their gait, weight, and shape. Astrid had none of that. She could only see the footprints on the grate. Well, that, and a quick look through the complex set of mirrors, tunnels, and a faux bush that gave her an estimate of who was there.

"Three incoming, fiery and green spotted, assuming visitors are Team Flame," Astrid murmured into a pipe leading back to Loudred. She didn't need to worry about him not hearing; she'd found out in the first minute that he could hear _very_ sharply.

Thus followed the intimidation tactic of shouting up the eerily smooth walls of the sentry post. It also had the side effect of letting people think that this was the guild's _only_ piece of security.

Loudred had been quite pleased to say that more than one pokemon had been at the mercy of the Guildmaster's Hyper Voice.

(But not without a minute shudder at what Astrid guessed him to be imagining _himself_ at the end of said move.)

So the day wore on.

And on.

 _And_ on.

Astrid sighed.

.

.

It was one very bored Astrid that met one very exhausted Matt at the dinner table that night.

"Rough day?" Astrid drawled, berries floating to her plate via Confusion. After a moment's hesitation, a few found their way to Matt's.

Matt groaned. "He's more sadistic than the Guildmaster! You know how you like to train? By running everywhere? He _attacks_ while you're running! From nowhere!" There was a thump, and when she looked, she found Matt's head on the table.

"Training with Chatot?" Loudred winced.

Matt simply groaned. Astrid poked him with a paw, slightly worried.

Loudred laughed. "Yeah, what I wouldn't give to be an apprentice before Wigglytuff took over the guild from Sylveon. You know, I HEARD from one of her apprentices that Chatot hadn't been so stingy in his apprentice days. He said that Chatot was actually pretty NICE."

"What happened?" Astrid abandoned her doomed attempts to revive her partner to gaze imploringly at Loudred. He was, after all, offering up information on their Head of Intelligence.

"Brine Cave."

"Brine Cave?" Now she was genuinely confused, and maybe a tad regretful of abandoning Matt. He knew more about this- _World's? Where had that come from?_ \- region's geography, even if it was faintly familiar.

"Oh, right, I keep forgetting you have AMNESIA." Astrid gave him a totally unimpressed looked and he blushed. "Er, that wasn't… Uh."

Flora must have heard, because she snickered. Loudred swelled with anger.

"So," Astrid drawled deliberately cutting whatever Loudred was going to shout, "What is so awe-inspiring about Brine Cave? And where is it located, exactly?"

"Huh?" He blinked and she barely withheld an eyeroll. "It's, uh, almost directly to the… east? No, northeast. YEAH! Directly across the bay from the Tear Falls."

"And the problem?"

"Well, the apprentice told me…"

.

.

"I presume that Matt told you about his training last night at dinner?" Chatot asked as he lead Astrid through the Labyrinths.

"Complained," she corrected.

"To be expected with one as young as him." Chatot sniffed. "I've noticed that in his training with the Guildmaster that he's too trusting of the environment and, to a degree, his opponents."

"He has a 'code of honor'." The sarcasm in the vulpine's voice told Chatot exactly what _she_ thought about that.

"And you don't?" Chatot looked at her over his wing.

"I learned a while ago that being 'honorable' does not bring back the dead." She shrugged. "Besides, being an explorer means that sometimes you have to chase down crooks, and they sure as hell do not care about honor."

"Indeed," he said, and Astrid was drawn back to the conversation last night.

 _"_ _...they were jumped, and Chatot almost didn't make it back."_

"However," Chatot was saying, "what I noticed about _you_ wasn't so obvious- to the normal observer, at least." He turned to her now, eyes narrow. "You don't sleep. Almost every other night you are off to Spinda's Cafe for a nice chat with the scyther on Team Razor Wind while her teammates babble about their mothers. That's not even counting the times you've gone for a walk in the Labyrinths and haven't returned until sunup.

"Which brings us here," Chatot brandished a wing at the surrounding caves. To Astrid's surprise, the room was decorated with dim candles and comfy pillows and blankets. Crystals hung from the ceiling reflected spots of colored candlelight throughout the room, giving it an ethereal quality. "Your training will be meditation. I've found that if done properly, you can 'sleep without sleeping.'"

Astrid blinked, muttering: "Sounds like something Casey would say…"

"Pardon?"

"What?"

"Did you say something?"

"No, why?"

.

.

As it turned out, Astrid sucked at meditation. No matter what she did, there was always something that broke her concentration. Always a thought, an itch, a patch of fur that just _had_ to be groomed back into place.

She was, quite literally, the restless dead.

"This is hopeless." Astrid stated after a scuttle from the corridors snapped her back to awareness.

"Perhaps," Chatot mused from his nest. "But this is just your first lesson. It usually takes several lessons to get it. Now, let's try this again: breathe in- deeper… and out. As I've said before, keeping yourself still it not necessary, but concentration is. If nothing else, concentrate on the sound of my voice—"

 _"—_ _And release it!"_

 _She yelled, Will'o-Flame leaping from her arms and to the target, engulfing it in an inferno._

 _"_ _I hit it!" She cheered, leaping and dancing as one of the Thirteen Elders—Elder Wicker—watched impassively._

 _^Indeed^, the Chandelure hummed in Ghost. ^You are progressing quickly for one so young.^_

 _"_ _Does this mean that when I die, I'll be a Litwick or Lampent, like you were?" She asked, silently comparing her bluebell flames to the orange of the Elder's._

 _^Perhaps, or perhaps one of those Marowak native to Alola,^ Elder Wicker mused. ^Enough practice for you, young one. Your brother is waiting for you.^_

 _She giggled, thanking Elder Wicker for his time and darting off and proving her lineage in how soundlessly she moved._

 _When she emerged in the clearing where their shared home stood, she was confused to find the front devoid of her brother's presence._

 _"_ _Umbra?" She called when she entered. No answer. She called again, searching every room of the house for her brother. "Umbra..."_

Maybe he's in the back _, she thought, heading out the back door. "Umbra?"_

 _It was empty. Well and truly scared, she began to turn when-_

"Wake up!"

Astrid jolted awake. The meditation room was there. She was sitting on a pillow, and not in the arms of… What? A monster?

...her brother?

"Are you alright?" Astrid startled, whipping around to face Chatot with a racing heart.

"I…" She swallowed, shaken. "I think I just… remembered something."

.

.

"...that is when someone had grabbed me and I woke up."

Astrid was finishing relaying her dream (memory) to Matt the next day.

"Wow." His eyes were bright as he thought. Astrid could practically see the gears turning. "That's…"

"I know," Astrid cut in. "But I do not want to get too excited about this. I do not…"

 _His life-blood was seeping away, his breathing labored._

"I do not know if all of my nightmares are fiction. I… need time.

"So how was sentry duty?"

He gave her a look that wasn't sympathetic.

It was _empathetic_.

Over the course of the next three weeks, Team Renegade alternated between sentry duty and Chatot's training. Matt had learned that not all opponents fought fair, and was anticipation Chatot and the residents of the Labyrinth's sneak attacks. Astrid, on the other hand, and gained little progress with meditation. She was just too restless for it; every little thing set her off- the light of the crystals reflecting the candlelight being the most distracting. When she told Chatot this, he had nodded, and the next lesson, they were gone

One morning, Chatot pulled her aside after the morning cheers. She was to deliver a basket to a team of traveling apprentices under the guild.

"They travel, mostly," Chatot had said. "But they also gather information- local customs, history, and mythology. They also help track outlaws and their movements. Team X in particular deals with the Deities and the belief of others."

"And do you believe in the Deities?" Astrid had asked.

"I think that they exist, but no, I don't _believe_ in them."

 _A True Neutral_.

Which, in and of itself was a rarity. Usually one either had a Belief, or they shunned the Deities' excitiance.

Astrid shook herself from her thoughts as she passed the well at the crossroad. Chatot had said that Team X was further down the road, but…

 _'_ _Here,'_ a voice echoed within her head. Astrid flinched when an abra Teleported in front of her, a black cloth around his eyes. _'This way.'_

"You are apart of Team X, I assume."

 _'_ _Yes. Call me Abra.'_

"Astrid."

Abra lead her to a clearing not far off the road, where she was surprised to find an Elder florges and a tent there.

 _'_ _That's Eric,'_ Abra said upon noticing her awed stare.

Eric was watching her with a curious gaze.

Astrid blinked, blushing despite herself and, feeling like she was standing before Elder Wicker, bowed her head. "Forgive me. I forgot myself before an Elder."

To her left, she saw Abra bristle, but the unmistakable sing of the Fairy language filled the air. Sadly, Astrid couldn't understand.

~She isn't calling me old. The Wraith Belief thinks that shiny pokemon are what they call Elders.~

 _'_ _She said that you meant no offence, and that to the Wraith Belief, an Elder equates to a shiny- alternately colored- pokemon.'_

"Did I just hear that someone of the Wraith Belief is in our camp?" Someone asked from the tent. A head poked out, causing Astrid's blood to freeze.

It was a human.

.

.

 **A/N:** ** _Ooo_** **, the dreaded cliffhanger!**

 **1) On the subject of languages in this universe, we have eighteen pokemon languages and five human ones. The ones we know so far are:  
** "Normal"  
 _"Bug"_  
Ghost _  
'Psychic'  
_ ~Fairy~  
 **All of which are pokemon languages. The human languages are Japanese (Common), English (Unovish), French (Kalos), Hawaiian (Alolan), and Latin (Almian).**

 **2) When Eric is explaining what Astrid means to Abra, it isn't strictly true. Elders are fully evolved pokemon that have lived long enough to change color, which is basically them turning grey. Eric, however, is only a shiny pokemon.**

 **So what are your thoughts? Did you notice any mistakes like Astrid using contractions? What do you think about the languages and Beliefs? Tell me in the box below!**


	5. Chapter Five: An Expedition

**A/N: I've realized that the last chapter might not have shown on the favorite stories lists of some of y'all. My fault, since chapter three was a bit weird for me… Just be sure that you have read** _ **Chapter Four: Gates**_ **before reading this chapter!**

.

.

The first thing she saw was an impossibly old serpentine eye. Then Astrid sees the trinket hanging from her left ear: a quartz shard with a rounded serpentine stone above it on a simple loop. Both seem familiar.

Both of Astrid's eyes locked onto the girl's.

The girl (woman? she couldn't look more than eighteen...), for her part, tried not to let that unnerve her. "Uh, I'm Serpentine Lyre, leader of Team X."

"...Astrid, of Team Renegade." Astrid shakes off the unwarranted hostility that makes her breathe a breath of blue flame. Will'o-Flame. "I suppose that this is yours, Ms. Lyre."

The basket is deposited before Serpentine as she crawled out of the tent. She stretched, lifting the lid to rifle through the basket with Eric looking over her shoulder. Abra appears at her side.

"Serpentine," she corrected absently. "And, ah, do you mind staying a bit? I'm researching Beliefs, and how the humans' differ from pokemon's." The girl pulls a crystal from the basket, promptly sticking it in her mouth to suck on.

Astrid hesitated. "...I am not sure I can help you. I suffer from amnesia."

Serpentine looked up, shock displayed in those eyes so much (too much) like her namesake. "I'm sorry if I seem blunt, but were you once human, Astrid?"

Electricity ran down Astrid's spine, making her scruff stand on end. "How do you know this?" She can't keep the hostility from inflecting her voice.

Serpentine seems to age before her as she gives Astrid a _pained_ look. "Though you may not believe me, I- and Eric, too- have lived through three of the human's World Wars before we were given the chance to come to the Hidden Archipelago. That's around five thousand years, not counting the time we spent wandering beforehand." She sighs, running a hand through what Astrid now realizes is militaristically short hair. "We've seen enough death to have witnessed at least one Wraith's Rebirth."

Astrid sits back, _seeing_ the girl for the first time. She sees the faint ( _from age, not severity_ ) scar running up Serpentine's cheek, the small scars on her hands that tell of a cutting weapon, and sees that weapon in the form of a rapier next to a pistol at her hip.

She supposes, then, that she can stay. Besides, she had many questions that Serpentine can no doubt answer.

.

.

Astrid ends up staying much longer than she intended. There is just so many things to _learn_ from Team X! In the end, Matt had been sent to ensure she didn't miss dinner.

"Is _that_ what humans look like?" Matt asks on the way back.

"In shape, yes," She replies. She can tell that he's trying to imagine _her_ as what Serpentine looks like. "But humans are just as diverse in looks as pokemon. I looked vastly different from Serpentine."

"You… did?"

Astrid laughs at his confusion. "I did. My hair was just as blonde and curly as it is now," she gestures to her mane, "but much longer, and more like a pyroar's mane. My skin was also darker, and I was taller and thinner."

"Humans are confusing," he declares. Astrid snorts with laughter.

The rest of the journey is filled with idle chatter. It's been a while, she realizes, that they've been able to chat like this. She'd missed this. From her previous life, where she can't remember the colors being so bright or the people being so trusting.

She'd missed this.

How? She couldn't remember...

.

.

The next morning, Chatot informed them that their grounding would be lifted.

"However," he'd said, "you two need to do something to make up for the stunt Team Renegade pulled last week. In lieu of Guildmaster Wigglytuff's absence, I've had the pleasure of deciding that task to myself. Your map, if you will-" Matt pulled out the map, "-thank you. For the past month, the guild has been hearing word that Tear Falls," his flight feathers brushed the landmark, "may or may not have a mystery dungeon hidden behind it."

Matt positively _lit up_. "You're sending us on an exploration? Really?"

"Who all is going to come?" Astrid asked, hiding her excitement.

"As I said, this mission is to redeem your team's outlook to others. While I don't doubt that you two are absolute _darlings_ -" Astrid grinned at the rare sarcasm shown in the word, "-in the eyes of Treasure Town for your rescue of Azurill, on paper, you did nothing more than go after an unapproved bounty under the guise of a rescue- a bounty that was rendered useless by said rescue. To pokemon outside of Treasure Town coming to Wigglytuff's Guild for help, Team Renegade not only as rebellious as their name, but also cannot be trusted to fulfill the parameters of a mission that may or may not contain a second objective." Chatot held up a wing to forestall Matt, who was preparing to protest. "We know that this is not true, but _they_ do not.

"Team Renegade, your mission is to examine Tear Falls and determine whether or not there is a mystery dungeon hidden somewhere around the site. If, in fact, there _is_ a dungeon, you are to explore and catalogue it. Can the guild trust you with this?"

The question was directed towards Astrid, who smirked and said:

"Of course."

.

.

"One week," Matt murmured absently, "Two days there, two back, and three to explore..."

They were camped just off the road to their destination. Astrid was sketching something- a face?- in the dirt. Matt was pouring over their map, tracing the road with a paw. He looked up suddenly as the stick Astrid was using broke.

"What're you doing?"

Astrid scowled. "Drawing."

"Drawing what?" Matt stood, peering over Astrid's shoulder. "Is that… Serpentine?"

Astrid grunted. "Me."

"I thought you said you looked nothing like her?"

A tongue of blue flame shot from the vulpine's snarling mouth. "I do not! But she is the only human face I can remember seeing! I _know_ I do not look like that- but every time I close my eyes and try to remember what I look like-!"

 _I see her. Even_ his _face…_

Matt was staring at her with wide eyes.

Astrid sighed. "It is… frustrating. At times, I find myself saying something, but when I stop to think about it, it disappears."

" _A… dusknoir?"_

" _I am dead..."_

"But sometimes," she continued, "I do not want to know-" _if the nightmares are real._ "-what my past is. I _feel_ as if there is something I am forgetting- something important- but then I cannot help but wonder if maybe this is a new start."

 _They reveled in seeing the Monsters' blood staining the grey earth._ _ **They brought it upon themselves**_ _, they thought, unrepentant._ _ **This is**_ **their** _ **fault!**_

Astrid pushed the thought away, shivering. That had been a nightmare. It was not real.

Matt is silent.

"My parents were on a rescue team together- Team Go-Getters." Matt began, so quiet he was almost whispering, settling down and staring at the singed dirt at his feet. "Swampert and Blastoise. They and Feraligatr and Pikachu were the best rescue team in Pokemon Square, rescuing pokemon left and right, even managing to save the world when that comment was heading straight at us. But then… after the Falling Star incident… Feraligatr went rouge. He quit the team and disappeared for six years."

His voice was strained, and when Astrid looked up, she saw him fighting tears.

"Eventually, he started reappearing. Raiding trade caravans, kidnapping and calling for ransom—a complete turn-around from what he used to be." Matt sniffled. "H-he was always seen wearing a red ribbon— a sign of the Red Trail."

The hair on Astrid's tail stood up. She'd only heard of the Red Trail once, and what she'd heard…

 _Murders. Thieves. Assassins. If you got an envelope with a red ribbon, you're done._

"They had to go after him, you know?" Matt smiled up at her, watery with sadness and unshed tears. "Three against one, it should have been an easy fight, but it wasn't. It wasn't, because they'd left a little mudkip behind to answer the mail and find an envelope marked for Team Go-Getters, tied with a.. a red ribbon."

It's Astrid's turn to fall quiet. And then—

"That was completely unfair and cliche, Matt."

"W-what?"

"First off, I tell you my insecurities about my memories, and you come out with a tragic backstory about betrayal and murder. And second-" she waved her tails to their surroundings, " _What_ , exactly, isn't cliche about trading _insecurities and tragic backstories_ around a campfire in the _woods_?"

Matt giggled, watery at first, and then turning into a belly-cramping laugh that had them both sniggering when it was over.

"Y-yeah, I- ha!- guess that's true."

Later, when they had bedded down and the campfire white-hot embers, it was Astrid that broke the silence.

"If you say 'thank you,' I will burn those tomato berries in your bag."

And if Matt turned as red as his favorite berry or pulled his bag a little closer, to himself, neither would say.

A new understanding passed between them.

.

.

 _Pale brown hands reached out, pulling an envelope from the mailbox._

 _Matt of Team Renegade_ _it read, letters inked in a dull brown and sealed with red wax._

 _She hummed, suddenly inside the house and calling "Matt," heating the wax with a finger of blue fire. A chair found its way under her, sweeping her off her feet and before a blazing red fire in the hearth. A silver mirror danced with a reflection, seen and forgotten as another call went out:_

" _Matt? You have mail."_

 _No one came, and she shrugged, peeling away the wax and pulling out the letter. It was blank. Frowning, she felt a weight to the envelope, and peered inside._

 _There, at the bottom was a red ribbon, trailing out of the folded paper. She caught it before it could escape, standing to wind it in, but finding resistance. So she followed it, straight to the fire in the hearth._

 _Only it wasn't a fire, but blood-red, fraying ribbons, all dancing around-!_

 _She screamed, staring at the blue-skinned corpse among the ribbons. Knees cracked against the grey, grey earth, hands-that-were-changing reaching for icy skin._

 _Something silvery caught her eye, and she looked up._

 _A mirror, reflecting a face half-drawn and a looming, dark,_ evil _shadow._

" _You found him for me…" it hissed. She whirled, met face-to-face with a crocodile grin. It crooned. "Death's angel… You did all my work for me."_

 _A clawed hand swept out, pulling her eyes to the sword-wielding child drenched blood and holding a struggling blue creature by the throat._

" _Ash!" the creature cried. "Ash! Astrid, please!"_

" _ **You brought this on yourself!"**_ _the child and sword sang._ _ **"It is**_ **your** _ **fault!"**_

 _The sword came down, and_ she _was the one struggling in the hand of a giant, screaming, begging!_

" _No! No, please! Please!"_

 _Blood painted a grey canvas._

.

.

"NO!"

"Ash…?" Awake now, Matt turned to see his teammate curled up and shivering on her bed of leaves. "Ash! Wake up! It's only a nightmare!" He reached out to shake her awake—

She snarled, her right eye wide and demonic as she pinned him with a Confusion.

^You did this…^ She hissed in a language he didn't know, face a mask of fury. ^You _killed him!^_

"Ash, stop! Y-you're scaring me!"

The eye narrows, and her head cocks curriously. Then the other one blinks open, and she flinches back as if struck.

"I am going for a walk. Sorry for… this."

Is all she says before the foliage covers her.

.

.

A keen nose swept over dirt moistened by the waterfall, sorting through the scents of wet earth, salt water, crushed undergrowth, and something…

"Strange," Astrid muttered, pushing her nose under a large maple leaf.

Matt, who had been using his heat-sense nearby, looked up. "What is?"

"Hm." Astrid moved forward, a trail lighting up before her. "A trail. It is faint, and hardly noticeable, but there is a scent that is almost human, but more… stony? With undertones of something almost like ozone and flowers, but not quite" She stopped, turning away to sneeze a jet of flame before continuing to follow the trail.

"Human?" Matt followed his partner with his eyes. "Wait, Ash, look-!"

"GAH!" She yelled. She'd walked too close to the Falls.

"Ash!" Matt was by her side in an instant, helping her to her feet. "Are you alright?"

"Yes." It was said shakily, because deep down, she felt as if something like that _shouldn't_ have happened. Suddenly, she stumbled as a wave of dizziness swept over her. _What?_

"Are you sure? You look a little..."

 **Nothing. A flash. Then—**

 **A shadow stood before Tear Falls, hesitant as it stepped back. She saw it take a deep breath, before whipping around and—**

 **She gasped, watching as it tumbled through the waterfall and into the cavern on the other side.**

"Ash?"

Astrid blinked, finding her partner's face closer than it was last time she saw it. She startled, jerking away from Matt.

"Sorry!" He apologized, blushing. "You just went all misty-eyed for a second there and I got concerned!"

"Do not apologize, Matt." She waved it away with a tail. "But I think I have found out how to find this dungeon."

"How?"

So she told him about her vision, watching as shock changed to awe and then to apprehension.

"Th- _through_ the waterfall?" He asked, swallowing.

Astrid nodded. "Are you scared?" Her tone was understanding.

"A little…"

Again, she nodded. "Good; you should be. On three?"

They paced a ways from Tear Falls, just like the shadow had done.

"One?"

"T-Two…"

" _THREE!"_

.

.

"The scent is getting stronger," Astrid informed Matt as they walked the stairway between B6F and B7F.

"The almost-human one?"

"Yeah—duck!"

 _FWOOSH!_

" _Ayiee! Fire! Fire!"_ The tangela screeched, taking off down one of the corridors with vines aflame.

"Thanks," Matt smiled.

Astrid shook her head. "B7F," she stated, bounding forward to examine a seed a little ways away. The translucent skin showed a teal core. "Another Reviver Seed."

"Really?" Matt came forward, studying the seed. "No, this one's a Reviser- the skin's too pale, and the core isn't luminescent."

Astrid sniffed it and giggled uncharacteristically. "It made me laugh," she accused with a scowl.

"Uh-huh!" Matt grinned. "And if you faint in a dungeon, it'll revive you, but then you start laughing so much you faint again."

"That is terrifying." But she slips it into her bag. "Shall we continue?"

.

.

"B8F," Matt grunts, dodging a Water Gun from a poliwag.

"Is now really the time?" Astrid roars at a whiscash, making it flinch so that Matt can hit it with Tackle. She turns to the poliwag, letting loose a Confuse Ray and Confusion in quick succession.

"No, but Chatot said—Mud-Slap!"

Astrid scowls, stumbling as the whiscash uses Earthquake. The poliwag faints. Matt hisses as his foot gets stuck in a crevice, leaving him open to a Body Slam from his opponent.

And suddenly, Astrid is there, covered with a dark aura as she comes at the whiscash from the right. It turns, but then _that_ Astrid disappears, and the _real_ one comes from above! The whiscash grunts, falling to the ground in a faint. It's body glow and disappears, kicked from the dungeon.

"Are you alright?" She asks, handing him an oran berry.

"Yeah! Hey, was that Feint Attack?"

"It was."

"Cool! When'd you learn that?"

Astrid hums. "Just now, I believe."

.

.

 _T... Ch…..n ...nes  
...h…...ho ….. aura…. a sanctuary ….mon …ect ...…uma…. wa…..d  
A…..h…. sacrifice, the ….ke….. we…..….eir te….ng Tear F...ls_

Astrid squinted at the characters of human's Common Tongue. It was old and faded, making the text hard to read. Nor did it help that her human tongue was Almian.

"What does it say?"

Matt looked up from where he was studying the latias across from the human, pikachu, and greninja. She held a glowing stone between her claws, and the human was kneeling, hands spread on the ground. The pikachu was perched on his shoulder, the other occupied by the greninja's hand. It stood tall, eyes shut and unoccupied hand held in a two-fingered prayer.

Astrid hummed. "All I can make out are the words 'aura,' 'sanctuary,' 'sacrifice,' and 'Tear Falls.' I… think they sacrificed themselves to protect something. Maybe Tear Falls?" She shrugged.

Matt nodded, eyes bright. "What about aura? What is it?"

"Aura is lifeforce, and only Aura Guardians (those trained to use aura) could use it without…" Horror twisted her face.

"Ash? What's wrong?"

"...without exhausting their aura and… and turning themselves into _stone_ ," Astrid continued shakily. "Matt, I think that these statues were once _living_."

He paled, flinching away from the latias as if struck. Astrid, in comparison, edged closer. She half expected them to burst to life, and she fought down flinch when she thought saw the greninja's fingers twitch. _Stop that. This is not one of your nightmares; you are only psyching yourself up._

She circled the human and pokemon, looking for something. There!

"Here, look," She beckoned to Matt. "Do you see the staff on his back? That means that he is an Aura Guardian. Whatever they were protecting, it was important enough that he and everyone else here were willing to give their lives for it."

While explaining, her tail brushed up against it, and she could have sworn she heard a whisper...

They stood in silence, in awe of the statues that had once been living. After a while, though, it turned awkward.

"We should move on."

"Yeah…"

.

.

"There is an opening ahead."

Matt looked up, slightly startled by the statement. Ever since they had come across the room with the statues, silence had reigned between them. There hadn't even been any wild pokemon, either!

Oh! Ash was stopping!

"What's up?" He asked.

Ash (When had he started calling her that? Maybe after that night…?) had her nose in the air, obviously trying to smell something. She had a really strong sense of smell, too, if she could smell the statues from the other side of a waterfall…

"...Can you sense anything?"

"Do you smell something?" He asked even as he focused on his heat- and seismic-senses (he had to, because of his mixed blood).

There was Astrid ( _way_ colder than was natural, but she was a ghost-type and not a fire-type. Delta-typing, did she call it?)… And there was that dimensional static that made it absolutely _impossible_ to use his seismic-sense in dungeons, though it was significantly less apparent, and if he moved _this_ direction…

"The dungeon ends that way," He exclaimed, pointing with a fore-paw.

"How do you know?" Astrid asked as they moved forward.

"There's this static about mystery dungeons that makes it hard- _really_ hard- to sense anything with my seismic-sense," Matt explained. Astrid was nodding.

"Because dungeons are dimensional constructs."

"Yeah! And there's less static this way..." Matt trailed off, eyes drawn to the area around them. "Woah."

All around them, stones glittered in the half-light in every color he could imagine. He darted towards a cluster, vaguely noting Astrid picking up a bluish-green crystal.

Then, something large and pink caused him to look up.

"Woah! Ash, look at this one! It's _huge_!"

The gem was just as big as _he_ was! He rushed forward to touch it; the gem was incredibly smooth under his paw.

"Can you imagine the looks on everyone's faces if we bring _this_ back?" He hooked his paws around the edges, tugging.

It stuck fast.

He grunted, pulling harder. Nothing. "Come. On!"

"Do you want me to try?" Astrid asked. He growled, giving a final yank before relenting.

He watches as she reached up, pulling on it as hard as she can. She grunts, growls, but nothing she does, not even a Confusion, can loosen it. Finally, she gives up, shaking her head.

He goes forward to try again. But this time he thinks.

It can't be pulled out, so maybe… There! There is just enough space behind it that if he pushes _there…_

"Wait, Matt—!"

 _Click!_

"It moved!" He crowed. "Ash, look it—"

She's not looking at him. She's staring, terrified, at the ginormous flood that's already too close to evade.

It slams into him with the force of a tsunami, and dear Mew does that hurt!

For just a second, he's worried about Ash, because she'd not a water-type and can't hold her breath for hours like him.

There's nothing but black, then.

.

.

 **A/N: I decided that only a few pokemon languages get special 'quotations' for dialogue. So far, that includes ~Fairy~, ^Ghost^,** _ **'Psychic'**_ **, :Water:, and =Dragon=. Why? Well, these languages are instinctive languages, and are essentially unlearnable to outsiders. If there are any other type languages that you think need special quotations, tell me in a review!**


End file.
